Quotes / Grey-and-Gray Insanity

Cyril: "Krieger's father was a Nazi scientist"!
Malory: "And JFK's father was a bootlegger."
Cyril: "That's like comparing apples to... Nazi oranges!"

—Archer

Palpatine: Remember back to your early teachings. "All who gain power are afraid to lose it." Even the Jedi.
Anakin: The Jedi use their power for good.
Palpatine: Good is a point of view, Anakin. The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power.
Anakin: The Sith rely on their passion for their strength. They think inwards, only about themselves.
Palpatine: And the Jedi don't?
Anakin: The Jedi are selfless. They only care about others.

—Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

—Desmond Tutu

"There is no good or evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it."

—Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

"Two opposing sides don't necessarily have two compelling arguments. Martin Luther King spoke on that mall in the capital, and he didn't say, 'Remember, folks, those Southern sheriffs with the fire hoses and the German Shepherds, they have a point, too!' No, he said, 'I have a dream. They have a nightmare.' This isn't 'Team Edward' and 'Team Jacob'."

—Bill Maher, Real Time with Bill Maher

"What the centrist misses is that the intellectual debate is necessary and important. It matters a great deal whether the just society is egalitarian or libertarian or what have you. That has immense implications for how we should live, how we should treat each other, for all facets of life. To say that we do not need to do serious thinking, serious reasoning, to reach conclusions in that discussion, that we can just triangulate whatever positions are out there, amounts to an anti-reason, anti-intellectual position. It is a cheap, unprincipled, valueless position. It skips all the important steps in philosophy, all the premises and arguments, and just assumes that everyone is equally right and equally wrong, and that if we throw all of the positions together and average them, we’ll get something acceptable. Philosophy does not work like that. Politics does not work like that. It is disrespectful to the field, to statecraft itself, that people think in this way. It trivialises and simplifies what is not trivial, what cannot be simplified."

— Benjamin Studebaker, "Intellectual Hipsters: Centrists"

"That sounds like a decent compromise because it's the middle-ground position, right? The problem is, it's the middle ground between sense and nonsense. It's like saying, 'It would be crazy to eat that entire bar of soap, so I'll just eat half of it.'"

— John Oliver, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Spider-Man: Listen, Peter! I know this isn't you! Because I am you! We aren't evil.
Spider-Carnage: You say what I'm doing is wrong, but how certain are you that you're not the evil Spider-Man?
(Beat)
Spider-Man: I-I'm fairly certain.
Spider-Carnage: "Good", "evil", we both know the world isn't as black-and-white as that, Parker!
Spider-Man: Yeah, pretty— pretty confident here.
Gwen Stacy: Hey, guys? Yeah, still here! Hangin' on for my life! (nervous laughter)
Spider-Carnage: Well, I believe it's a matter of perspective!
Spider-Man: "Perspective"? Whoa-whoa-whoa, my perspective is that you look fucking horrifying! Like, what are you covered in, is that— is that Venom?
Spider-Carnage: Carnage.
Spider-Man: All right, even worse, so you merge with the Carnage symbiote, you-you've got a literal Damsel in Distress, you opened up a black hole over the city, I-I mean, you really don't think you lost your way just a little bit?
Spider-Carnage: You're so naive! Sometimes the end justifies the means!
Spider-Man: And what's that, exactly?
Spider-Carnage: I've opened a portal into oblivion that will soon consume the entire city, and then the world!
Spider-Man: What's the net positive in that?
Spider-Carnage: I… it… it will look really… fucking cool!
Spider-Man: See? You've got nothing!
Spider-Carnage: I was innocent like you once, Parker. I was in your shoes. But I soon realized that this world is not as black-and-white as you believe. That there is no "good" in this world. That to make real change, you have to—
Spider-Man: You're literally monologuing right now.
Spider-Carnage: Save your breath, Parker! I don't care what you think!
Spider-Man: Maybe so, but what would Uncle Ben think?
Spider-Carnage: Oh, dude, that's low!
Spider-Man: No, but really, think about it! Do you really think Uncle Ben would take your side on this?
Spider-Carnage: A hundred percent!
Spider-Man: Really.
Spider-Carnage: Yeah, yeah, of course! I mean, like… like he always said, y'know, with great power comes… (pauses to think) …all-encompassing black hole.

— "Genocidal Spider-Man is a Nice Guy" by Solid jj (based on Spider-Man: The Animated Series)

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